Town guide / Cheshire market towns
A farmhouse table for a Sandbach kitchen
Sandbach is an old market town best known for the two carved Saxon crosses in its cobbled market square, with Cheshire farmland stretching away on every side.
i.
The houses
Around the centre are older buildings, including the timber-framed Old Hall, with Victorian terraces beyond and a great deal of newer housing on the edges of town. Open-plan kitchen-diners in newer homes can take a big table but often have lower ceilings and constant heating; older cottages offer character but narrower doorways. Either way, the table has to leave room to pull chairs out and walk around it.
ii.
Antique tables and chairs in that setting
A farmhouse table was made for daily work, so a scrubbed or worn top is part of its history. Allow roughly 90cm between the table edge and a wall or worktop so chairs can be pushed back. Ask Sara for the height to the underside of the apron, which decides whether your chairs tuck beneath, and whether the top comes away from the frame for moving.
iii.
Buying from Caernarfon
Sandbach sits just off the M6, and Caernarfon, where Life: Full Colour is based, lies a long way west by way of Chester and the A55; there is no branch in between.
Buying works the same way from anywhere: find a piece, ask Sara about it by the enquiry form or on 01286 400155, and buy through Creative Caernarfon.
Visiting and delivery
Life: Full Colour is based at 9 Segontium Terrace, Caernarfon LL55 2PN. Ask Sara whether delivery or viewing is possible for a particular piece.
Antique tables and chairs listed on Creative Caernarfon
- 18th Century Oak Gateleg Dining Table (opens in a new tab)
- Victorian Mahogany Wind-out Dining Table with Eight Chairs (opens in a new tab)
One-off pieces: ask Sara whether a listing is still available.
iv.
Questions for a Sandbach buyer
Measure the room, then take off clearance for chairs on every side you plan to use, roughly 90cm from the table edge to the nearest wall or unit. What remains is the largest table that will work comfortably day to day. Ask Sara for the length, width and height of any table you are considering.
Not always. Old tables can have deep aprons, or stretchers between the legs, that catch chair arms or knees. Ask Sara for the height from the floor to the underside of the apron and the position of any stretchers, then compare those with the seat and arm heights of your own chairs.
Warm, dry air rising from the floor can dry timber out, and a solid top may shrink slightly across its width or open along the joints between boards. Keeping humidity steady and not placing the table over the warmest zone both help. A little seasonal movement is normal in solid wood.
Life: Full Colour is based in Caernarfon. Phone Sara on 01286 400155, or use the enquiry form, to ask whether a particular table can be viewed, and request any photographs or measurements you need to decide. Purchases are completed on Creative Caernarfon.
Look at how the boards are fixed to the frame, whether by pegs, buttons or screws, and whether the top sits flat without rocking. Pegged tops often lift off, which helps in a narrow doorway. Ask Sara whether the top is fixed or lifts off, and whether it began life with that frame.
A farmhouse table often has a top that comes away from the frame, which makes moving it much easier. Measure the narrowest doorway and any turn on your route, then compare it with the width and depth of the frame on its own. Ask Sara whether the top lifts off.
Running it along the longest wall usually keeps the main walkway clear. Across the room can create a natural divider between cooking and eating, but only if there is space to pass at both ends. Lay out newspaper the size of the top and move around it.
Yes, and it saves space in a smaller room, though that side of the table is then unusable for seating. Check the table's overhang, since a deep top may sit proud of the legs. Leave a little air behind it so skirting boards do not stop it sitting flat.
Pads help protect floors from scratches and let the table slide a little when you pull it out. Choose firm self-adhesive felt, and check them from time to time, as grit can collect and scratch. On a floor that is not flat, a small shim may also be needed.
Yes, stools tuck under a table easily, and a settle can run along a wall as bench seating. Measure the height under the frieze so knees and stools clear it, and leave enough room behind a settle so people can still get past to the far side of the table.
Most people find about 25 to 30cm between the seat and the table top comfortable, so measure the seat height of the chairs you already own. Compare that with the table height, and with the height under the frieze or apron. Ask Sara for these measurements.